Double Masters 2022 is a reprint set, which means old cards get fancy new art…sometimes from some familiar names!
Being a set composed entirely of reprints, Double Masters 2022 can’t give us much that counts as purely new. All the cards already exist (with a lone exception for Cryptic Spires), so while previews allow for excitement over some welcome reprints, there’s really only one thing Wizards can spice things up: the art. Featuring new card frames and alternate art to previous versions of some cards, sets like Double Masters 2022 can really let the art of Magic cards shine, highlighting story beats, fleshing out minor corners of multiversal lore, and just being plain rad.
But, as the saying goes, everything old is new again, and reprint sets like this are also a great place to bring back some old friends.
Richard Kane Ferguson
Richard Kane Ferguson was a mainstay of early Magic, back when the art direction was much less unified. His old-school influenced fantastical style helped shape the direction of Magic art, and while he no longer is a regular artist for the game, he still pops up here and there to give breathtaking, mythic feeling art every now and then, usually on cards that reference his older works. As the artist of the original Dakkon Blackblade, for example, he was tapped to provide art for Dakkon, Shadow Slayer in Modern Horizons 2.
His latest contribution are stunning full-art versions of Dragonlord Dromoka, Elenda, and Grim Flayer, and you can tell this is an artist who was heavily inspired by the stories of Edgar Rice Burrows and Robert E. Howard; vibrant, fully-realized, and character driven.
Mark Tedin
Mark Tedin is another artis from the earliest days of Magic, who has illustrated some of the most iconic cards in the history of the game.
Much like RKF, it’s been a while since he was an artist in rotation for regular Magic sets, but he will still pop up every now and then to spice things up on special version of cards or cards that reference his older art. In Double Masters 2022, he contributes full art versions of two cards that have been needing reprints for a long, long time: The Mimeoplasm and Imperial Seal.
The Foglios
Kaja and Phil Foglio were also a part of the early days of the game, and their art style lent the game a sense of fun and whimsy that modern Magic has largely moved away from, although the sense of humor their art provided still comes through in the margins.
Their art also graces some of the most powerful cards in the game, many of which are iconic staples of some of the corner stone decks in eternal formats.
The Foglios are making their return to Magic in Double Masters 2022, with the full art Chaos Warp featuring some absolutely top-form Phil art:
And while Kaja has yet to have any new art revealed (as of the time of this writing), Phil has hinted that there is some from her (and more from him) on the way:
Volkan Baga, Donato Giancola, and Patron Wizard
So this one shouldn’t technically count, as it’s not a part of Double Masters 2022, but it’s nifty enough that I’m going to throw it in here. I’m the acting editor for the blog at the moment, so it’s not like ANYONE COULD STOP ME.
Ahem. Sorry about that. Anyway.
Patron Wizard originally came out in Odyssey in 2001, with art by Donato Giancola. Giancola was already a well-known artist with plenty of credits to his name, and would give younger up-and-coming artists essentially apprentice roles as his assistants. In 2005, one of these artists was Volkan Baga.
Fast forward to 2022, and secret Lairs are now a thing; more specifically, artist series Secret Lairs are a thing, and Volkan Baga gets one focused on him. He decides to do a new version of Patron Wizard, this time modeling the Wizard after his old patron, Giancola:
Again, this has nothing to do with Double Masters, but it’s a nice story about Magic art, so here we are.
Card art is an often overlooked aspect of Magic – people will marvel over the new cards, particularly nifty looking art that ties into the story or lore will get shouted out, and then the art will fade into the background of the game, appreciated but somewhat taken for granted. Taking a step back every now and then and really thinking about the amount of amazing fantasy art that Magic has put into the world can give you a whole new perspective on the game.
In any case, we’re still in the middle of preview season for Double Masters 2022, and even more names from the past may pop up. I’m looking forward to seeing what else the Foglios are up to, and to see if any other old friends from Magic’s past may show up.
Are there any artists from Magic’s past you want to see new art from? Let me know on Twitter (@fridaynightmeh)!
Chris is the Associate Media Producer at Card Kingdom. He would like to apologize to his son for not holding onto more cards from when he first started playing, as that likely would have paid for college. He enjoys pretty much all formats of Magic, but usually ends up playing decks that make other people dislike playing those formats with him.